Interview by
Benjamin Poole
Charlatan, which made the shortlist for Best International Feature at this year's
Oscars, is based on the true story of infamous Czech healer Jan
Mikolášek.
Few true stories tread the thin line between good and evil as
precariously as that of Mikolášek, whose great success masked the grimmest
of secrets. He won fame and fortune treating celebrities of the interwar,
Nazi, and Communist eras with his uncanny knack for “urinary diagnosis”
but his passion for healing stemmed from the same source as a lust for
cruelty, sadism, and an incapacity for love that only one person could
ever quell – his assistant, František. As a show trial threatens to pry
open these secrets and undo him, Jan’s conflicts are put to a final
test,with the fate of his life’s only love in the balance.
We spoke to Charlatan's director, the acclaimed Agnieszka Holland.
Witaj Agnieszka! Congratulations on Charlatan, your biopic of
unconventional physician Jan Mikolášek. It was very intriguing
watching the film at this point in time, as, with Covid vaccines, the
credibility of medicine is an urgent talking point! I wonder if you
wouldn’t mind talking about what attracted you to this story?
Mikolasek was well known, when alive, or rather when he was practicing,
after he was forgotten. I did study in Czechoslovakia and know pretty
well Czech culture and history, but I never heard about him before
reading Marek Epstein’s script. Mikolasek wrote before dying, after
being released from prison, a very self praising autobiography, but
interestingly it only described his practice and achievements in healing
and his discoveries as a herbalist. We read several newspapers about
him: those from communist times called him the charlatan and the thief
who sucks the blood of the working class.
A little while ago I reviewed a film about the spy Noor Inayat Khan.
When the review was published, online trolls took issue with my review
because they felt the film was inaccurate, despite the movie
celebrating the work and sacrifices of this incredible person! The
whole trolling episode was a bit daft really (I am here to review
films, not fact check), but I suppose that there is some sort of
responsibility to history. Or is there? After all, Emerson
asserted that ‘there is properly no history; only biography’. How did
you approach the telling of Mikolášek’s story? How far did you adapt
and make concessions to the narrative format of cinema?
The trial was less dramatic than in our film; here we made the most of
the liberty to dramatise. As about his private life and character, we
found only some isolated dots, so we connected them with the red line of
our imagination. Anyway, I don’t believe in the accuracy of biopics; the
inner truth about the soul of man is mostly well hidden. So I rather
believe in artistic intuition and imagination than in official facts.
As I said earlier, your career has been multifaceted and your skill
set is versatile: in 1982 you translated
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, you’ve worked on prestige
television such as The Wire and your films have been awarded
within and without the industry (Academy Award nominations along with
civil decorations such as the Orders of Princess Olga). I wonder what
is next? Do you have any passion projects which you would like to
complete?
As about my plans… the pandemic taught me a lesson: we don’t know about
the future. I have some projects but nothing certain, after an
unexpected year's break, which I haven’t have for ages, I started to
enjoy slowing down. And I try to put together some story which can
express deeper the strange times we are living through. So far I have
only the sketches of the story, so it is too early to speak about it.
If you could programme Charlatan as part of a triple showing,
what would the other two films on the bill be and why?
Maybe two movies - a bit connected by the subject or the questions
they’re asking: Total Eclipse, about the relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine
(Christopher Hampton script, starring a young Leonardo DiCaprio and
David Thewlis). I was showing it to the crew and actors when prepping
Charlatan and it has aged well. Also
The Spoor, based on Olga Tokarczuk's book 'Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the
Dead'. It shows the force and importance of nature; something which made
also Mikolasek strong; even if he didn’t accept his own nature.
Charlatan is on UK/ROI VOD now.